Anna Belle Atencio

Anna Belle Atencio passed peacefully from this world after a long illness on January 24, 2015, with her high school sweetheart and husband of 59 years, Ernesto E. Atencio, and other family by her side. She was born in 1936 to James T. and Josefina Christian in Mora, NM. Soon after graduation from Menaul High School in Albuquerque, she married Ernesto in 1955. Anna stayed home to raise their four children while they were young, then later in life was hired by the U.S. Census Bureau as a Bilingual Interviewer, which she did until her retirement. Together, Anna and Ernesto fulfilled a life-long aspiration to become Commissioned Lay Pastors in the Presbytery of Denver, Synod of the Rocky Mountains. They were chosen to minister to the Spanish-speaking congregation at Aurora First Presbyterian Church, where they conducted weekly services and organized other community programs. Anna and Ernesto eventually moved back to Ernesto’s home village of Dixon, NM, where they reconnected with their roots, tended an orchard next to the river and remained active as lay pastors for various northern New Mexican communities and as members of the Embudo Presbyterian Church in Dixon. Anna is survived by her husband, Ernesto; her children Ernie (Elsbeth), Shirley and Sylvia (Jesse); grandchildren Josh (Liane), Eden (Mike), Nicole, Adam (Courtney), Molly, Aspen (Mark) and Dylan; and great grandchildren Avery, Briar, Bracey and Violet. She was preceded in death by the untimely loss of her son, David.

A funeral service and celebration of Anna’s life will be held on Saturday, January 31, 3:00 p.m., at Aurora First Presbyterian Church, 1585 Kingston Street, Aurora, CO 80010, followed by a reception dinner. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to the Aurora First Presbyterian Church Memorial Fund at the address above.